PilotBound estimate · Newberry & Columbia, SC · Checked October 4, 2026
What flight training at Propel Aviation Center costs
Website propelac.com
Phone 903-776-7351
Section 1Cost estimate
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
Two-seat.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Propel Aviation Center
range $12.9K – $17.1K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Propel's published rates: Cessna 150H at $135/hr + $50/hr instruction, checked October 4, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$5,620 on Propel's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.
Where it goes
One-time fees ($2,375)
- Knowledge (written) test$175
- Checkride / DPE fee$800
- Medical certificate$150
- Headset$700
- Ground school / test prep$300
- Books, charts & supplies$250
Examiner records (DPE dataset).
The hourly flying is priced on Propel Aviation Center's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Propel Aviation Center's prices, and several are set by third parties.
Estimates use PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists and FAA minimums where it does not, applied to each school's published rates. They are PilotBound estimates, not the school's quote, and will differ from a school's own figures. Full methodology and sources →
Put this calculator on your siteSection 2The rate card
What Propel publishes
checked October 4, 2026Newberry (Newberry County Airport, EOE)
Columbia (Jim Hamilton L.B. Owens Airport, CUB)
Propel prices each base on its own page and does not say whether fuel is included. Instruction is $50/hr: that is the instructor rate on both ground instruction pages, on the Columbia private pilot page and in the Newberry instrument course pricing, while the Newberry private pilot page prints $49.98. Instruction in an aircraft you own is $65/hr. A Sport Pilot license is advertised at $4,999.
The examiner's checkride fee is not on this card: the examiner sets it, not the school. The estimate above includes PilotBound's own figure for it. Propel's site does not state whether its rates include fuel. Propel trains under both parts, and the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.
Section 3Discovery flight
$140
Checked October 4, 2026
A 30-minute ground lesson and a 30-minute flight, priced by base: $140 at Newberry and $155 at Columbia. A two-hour version with a one-hour flight is $229 at either base. An extra passenger is $25.
Section 4Paying for it
Two ways to cover $14,994.
Win what you can first, then borrow only what is left. Neither figure assumes anything about you: one is what our scholarship directory holds, the other is what the lenders publish.
- Money you keepScholarships you could apply for51 open to anyone. Top awards reach $22,200.No South Carolina-only awards in the directory yet.
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- Money you pay backLenders that cover $14,994All six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
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Section 5Add to my plan
Turn this into a plan.
Your $14,994 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.
Add to my planSection 6In the app
Track it against Propel's rates.
Propel Aviation Center's rate card is in the PilotBound app. Choose Propel when you set up and the app prices your training at its rates, then tracks every flight you log against the projection.
Scan to download on your iPhone
Section 7What to ask
What to ask when you call
The marked one is what Propel's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
Do the published aircraft rates include fuel, or is fuel billed separately?Missing from their site
The site does not say, and it is the difference between two rates that look identical and are not.
What gets billed on top of the hourly rates, and roughly how much per hour does it add?
The site notes extras beyond the hourly figures. Ask for the all-in number per hour, not the base rate.
Does the instructor rate change for the Instrument, Commercial, or CFI, or is it flat across everything?
Plenty of schools charge more for advanced instruction. A flat rate quoted for the Private can climb later.
Do you offer block rates or prepay discounts, and what is the refund policy if I stop partway?
Block discounts are common and rarely published. The refund terms matter more than the discount.
What do you charge for the written test, the checkride, and the examiner's fee?
The DPE fee alone runs $800 to $1,200 in most of the country and is almost never in a quoted hourly rate.
How many trainers and how many full-time instructors do you have right now?
Availability decides your pace, and pace decides your total more than the hourly rate does.
Section 8Questions
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Propel Aviation Center?
- Propel Aviation Center publishes $135 per hour for the Cessna 150H and $50 per hour for instruction on it, checked October 4, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $14,994, in a range of $12,900 to $17,100. That covers roughly 72 hours of flying and instruction plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out, including the written test, the examiner's checkride fee, a medical, and study materials. It is a PilotBound estimate built on the school's published rates, not a quote from Propel Aviation Center.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Propel Aviation Center?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Propel Aviation Center to reach the private pilot checkride, at roughly 72 hours. Pace is the single biggest variable: flying once a week typically stretches the timeline and raises the total, because time between lessons gets spent re-learning. Weather, aircraft availability, and instructor turnover all push the same direction.
- Is Propel Aviation Center a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Propel Aviation Center trains under both Part 61 and Part 141, so you can pick the structured FAA-approved course or the flexible path. Part 141 is the one that matters for VA benefits and for the lower paper minimum on the private certificate; Part 61 is the one that bends around a full-time job.
- Do Propel Aviation Center's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Propel Aviation Center publishes $135 per hour for the Cessna 150H, a rate that does not say whether fuel is included. Ask before you budget: if the rate turns out to be dry, fuel adds roughly $30 to $60 per hour on top. PilotBound's estimate uses the rate exactly as published. Rates checked October 4, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at Propel Aviation Center?
- Propel Aviation Center trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor and Instrument Instructor. Instruction is $50 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Propel Aviation Center's own published rates.
Section 9Sources
Estimates use Propel Aviation Center's published Cessna 150H and instructor rates (checked October 4, 2026), shown in USD for planning only. Real cost varies by student, weather, and pace. A range, not a quote.
PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Propel Aviation Center. School names are used only to identify the school. Estimates use PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists and FAA minimums where it does not, applied to each school's published rates. They are PilotBound estimates, not the school's quote, and will differ from a school's own figures. Disclaimer & removal policy.
Are you Propel? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.
Other South Carolina flight schools
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